Tokens of Affection
by Jordanna Morgan
Summary: Edward is highly creative in his gift-giving.


**Title:** Tokens of Affection  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** G.  
**Characters:** Edward/Noa.  
**Setting:** First anime. Set in my Tiesverse, when Ed and Noa are married State Alchemists.  
**Summary:** Edward is highly creative in his gift-giving.  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** More Ed/Noa fluff for Cotton Candy Bingo. In this case, the prompt is "made this for you".

* * *

"Happy anniversary," Edward murmured, leaning over Noa's shoulder to nuzzle gently at her cheek. "I made something for you."

Before she turned from the empty breakfast dishes that stood waiting to be gathered on the table, Noa had to pause and smile, stifling a small chuckle. Based on past experience in their first year of marriage, she could already surmise one or two things about her husband's gift.

Edward had discovered that he loved creating things for her with alchemy. Hardly a week went by without him having some new trinket for her. Usually it was jewelry; she found herself wearing more necklaces and bracelets now than she had in her youth among the ornament-loving Roma. Sometimes, too, he tried his hand at designing dresses: rich, colorful things, made in lush fabrics, with sleek curves and exotically cut hemlines to show her off just the way he liked best. He took such pleasure in experimenting with clothes for her, there were times when she felt a bit like his personal dress-up doll.

Of course, not _everything_ he created was quite Noa's style. She was still a little bemused by the very gothic-looking, batwing-shaped necklace he had presented to her a few months ago. After having existed as a dhampir for several years before her arrival in Amestris, Noa didn't have much taste for such things that were rather… well, _dark_. To Ed's credit, though, he seemed to realize that, and tried to keep his gifts bright and beautiful.

And there was one other characteristic about several of his creations: something that made them the most memorable.

"Oh, it's gorgeous, Ed… Did you make that out of the curtains from Doctor Olek's study?" she asked curiously, eyeing the long, ruffled dress of deep red velvet that he proudly held up for her inspection.

"Yeah, I did," he replied with a grin. "When I saw them, I just couldn't resist—and besides, it's not like he's going to need them in _prison_."

Doctor Olek was a rogue alchemist the Elrics had recently taken on, in their capacity as State Alchemists. His particular criminal enterprise was a fraudulent real-estate scheme, in which he alchemically forged evidence that commonplace pieces of land held rich veins of precious metals or minerals. As soon as he duped a buyer into paying an astronomical price for the property, he would disappear to a luxurious hidden compound in the mountains. Like too many alchemists, he had succumbed to the temptation of using his skills for dishonest gain.

Naturally, the Elrics had put a stop to that. It was a fairly exciting little war, too, thanks to Olek's small army of hired private security. Once the guards were taken care of, they ultimately found the fat Olek cowering beneath the desk in his study—which is where Noa had seen those red velvet curtains hanging. Clearly, they caught Ed's eye as well.

This wasn't the first time Ed had created a gift for Noa from something he found in the course of their work. In fact, it was becoming a habit with him. He seemed to like claiming a trophy from the scenes of their victories against alchemic injustice, transforming it into a memento for Noa to wear and himself to admire. Her jewelry case was full of such little prizes: the tusks of a rampaging chimera had become an ivory bangle bracelet, while her crystal earrings came from a chandelier in the home of an alchemist who created and sold fake historical documents. (By the time the Elrics were done with him, needless to say, that chandelier—and a large part of his house—was in a million pieces. It would have been easy for Ed to pocket a few of the broken crystal shards.)

On the other hand, this _was_ the first time Ed had made an entire dress from a confiscated piece of a rogue alchemist's property. It wasn't hard to guess that he did it especially for the occasion. He had been looking forward to their anniversary for weeks now.

Noa knew she probably shouldn't encourage him, but his unique creative outlet was really quite endearing… and it amused her terribly.

"I love it," she said happily, running her hand down the softness of the dress, and then leaning into Ed's arms for an embrace. "And I'll wear it for our anniversary dinner tonight."

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_© 2014 Jordanna Morgan_


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